How is KDE in laptops?

Hi. It’s been few years since I have last used linux but now I kind of need it for some of my projects as linux on windows is kind of a pain and I also want to get back to linux. I have a laptop with Intel iGPU and Nvidia 1650 GPU. So anyone with similar configuration can tell me how is it in KDE wayland since I would also be using multiple displays with different refresh rate and last time I checked it suck on Xorg and wayland was simply not usable.

I can cope with minor bugs here and there as long as it doesn’t like make the device unusable altogether. Also I would be using dual boot environment with Windows 11 so would the TPM cause any trouble?

Thanks

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It’s great in my opinion. I’ve been using Wayland on my laptop for about 6 months now and it’s really nice.

Dual GPU however and Linux aren’t a great duo from what I’ve seen though. If you’re not using the laptop for gaming or intensive applications you can just set the Intel GPU as the only GPU in the BIOS from what I’ve heard and have less issues.

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Oh disabling Nvidia is a no go from me. I am going to use CUDA cores for small AI project. Yes 1650 is not the latest and greatest out there but it is far better than a CPU. Also I play some games in windows and Intel GPU can’t even run Minecraft at 10 FPS in normal settings.

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Fair enough. I think it’s worth trying and I know there’s tools out there to manage running certain software on the NVIDIA GPU.

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KDE on Notebooks… It’s not so much a KDE/Plasma thingy but rather a matter of how good/convenient/transparent your hardware support is by the distro you are using.

GPUwise:
My machines do fine (either intel, amd or intel/amd dgpu), it even runs smooth on an old Inspiron 1525 with a intel GMU. Sleep modes and on an old noname netbook even touchscreen and Plasma works fine ootb.

Updates on a rolling distro might have have unwanted side effects when installing the proprietary nvidia driver (which might be quirky when using Wayland anyway, so better stick to Xorg).
So, ymmv. Only advice I could give, apart from staying clear of nvidia gpus;-), is either using brtfs snapshots or time machine before components like Kernel and/or gpu and/or Xorg driver are getting updated.

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I used to use a laptop with some kind of Intel iGPU and an Nvidia 960m. The main problem with it was that Nvidia Optimus (the tech for switching between graphics cards) was just difficult and buggy on Linux no matter what you did (not Plasma specific). Besides that, it worked fine with Plasma.

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Thanks. I guess I will try installing linux on an external hard drive and see how it goes. Hopefully Nvidia managed to make it better since last time you used it :slight_smile:

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You can install it on an USB-Memory stick with at minimum 32GB memory as well. Please ensure, that you enable USB boot as default.
Look during the installation, that you use the right Installation destination (verify name and size).
Use (U)EFI as well as secure boot (requires a Distro which is signed with MS key, like e.g. openSUSE LEAP/Tumbleweed).

My personal Tip is to use openSUSE Tumbleweed. It is due to rolling release with extend automated and manual pretests (Factory) supports the most HW-Features out of the box. Only the NVIDIA Graphic can be an issue, if you want to use the closed source NVIDIA driver!

SUSE-Tipp: Have a look after installation via “su -c ‘yast2 repositories’” to the “community-repositories”, where you should enable Packman and if you want to use NVIDIA drivers.

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Regarding the GPU: I actually got an eGPU a couple of days ago; my impression is that if the Intel graphics are selected by default but you have an app you want to run on the dedicated GPU, try running it with the environment variable DRI_PRIME=1. That has seemed to work well for me so far.

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I use kde neon on an old laptop with intel graphics. it works fine ok with wayland but better with x11

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I have an old HP Probook 4540s from the year 2010 or so (which has a 2 core 2.4 GHz Intel processor and 5 GB of RAM).

Plasma runs just fine on it (on Arch Linux, with X as the display server). And while it’s not the fastest and snappiest experience, it’s completely usable and functional. The only thing I disabled was Baloo, the file indexer, as it was creating some annoying stuttering.

So in any case, Plasma will not be a problem, it can run on a potato. Now, Plasma + Wayland + NoVidea graphics + multiple monitors + different refresh rates… That sounds a bit scary to me :rofl:

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Similar to @Kresimir I had an old HP with an intel core 2 duo (did some upgrading from T5500 to later models) with 4GB (and its board could use even only 3.5) and despite having oldschool rotating disks: Worked like a charm but I sold it while years ago while I could.

Fun Fact: Must have been when win10 was released and I had a preview copy. Win10 was slow and sluggish and could even play videos properly (maxed out 720p). KDE (not sure what release but either debian or kubuntu) was very workable and played videos also at 1080p. That made me say byebye to windows. Forever!

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Short remark:
I would propose to use only distro packages (deb/rpm) on this devices. One of our LUG members are using a similar Notebook with Ubuntu, which stops working in BBB sessions after switching from DEB to SNAP packages (from about 80% load during speaking and screen sharing on a Firefox with DEB to 100% only on speaking w/o screen sharing on SNAP version of Firefox). Due to the fact step by step all Webrowsers was replaced by the SNAP based version, he now upgraded the Hardware :frowning:
Remark: He is a older user and was not able to exchange the SNAP by DEB in the latest LTS.

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I’m running Linux (Manjaro) on the following machines

Dell Inspiron (with NVidia turned off, no drivers installed)

System:
  Host: hilda Kernel: 6.1.26-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc
    v: 12.2.1 Console: pty pts/2 DM: SDDM Distro: Manjaro Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Portable System: Dell product: Inspiron N5110 v: N/A
    serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 8 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Dell model: 0mwxpk v: A09 serial: <superuser required> BIOS: Dell
    v: A09 date: 09/30/2011
CPU:
  Info: quad core model: Intel Core i7-2670QM bits: 64 type: MT MCP
    smt: enabled arch: Sandy Bridge rev: 7 cache: L1: 256 KiB L2: 1024 KiB
    L3: 6 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 798 high: 800 min/max: 800/3100 cores: 1: 798 2: 798
    3: 798 4: 800 5: 798 6: 800 7: 798 8: 800 bogomips: 35135
  Flags: avx ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics
    vendor: Dell driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-6 ports: active: LVDS-1
    empty: VGA-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0116 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: Sunplus Innovation Dell HD Webcam driver: uvcvideo type: USB
    rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 1-1.5:5 chip-ID: 1bcf:2880
    class-ID: 0e02
  Display: x11 server: X.org v: 1.21.1.8 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting dri: crocus gpu: i915 tty: 81x43
  Monitor-1: LVDS-1 model: LG Display 0x02dc res: 1366x768 dpi: 101
    size: 344x194mm (13.54x7.64") diag: 395mm (15.5") modes: 1366x768
  API: OpenGL Message: GL data unavailable in console. Try -G --display

A Pioneer Computers Dreambook (Rebadged Clevo, assembled in Australia) Intel GPU only

System:
  Host: daphne Kernel: 6.1.29-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc
    v: 12.2.1 Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.27.4 tk: Qt v: 5.15.9 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 1
    dm: SDDM Distro: Manjaro Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Notebook product: W54_W94_W955TU,-T,-C v: N/A
    serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 10 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Notebook model: W54_W94_W955TU,-T,-C v: V1.0
    serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends v: 5.6.5
    date: 08/14/2014
CPU:
  Info: quad core model: Intel Pentium N3540 bits: 64 type: MCP
    smt: <unsupported> arch: Silvermont rev: 8 cache: L1: 224 KiB L2: 2 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 593 high: 873 min/max: 500/2666 cores: 1: 500 2: 500
    3: 500 4: 873 bogomips: 17343
  Flags: ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series Graphics & Display
    vendor: CLEVO/KAPOK driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-7 ports: active: eDP-1
    empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-1,VGA-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0f31
    class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: Bison BisonCam NB Pro driver: uvcvideo type: USB rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 1-4.3:8 chip-ID: 5986:024b class-ID: 0e02
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.8 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,vesa dri: crocus gpu: i915
    display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1366x768 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 361x203mm (14.21x7.99")
    s-diag: 414mm (16.31")
  Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: LG Display 0x03f8 res: 1366x768 hz: 60 dpi: 101
    size: 345x194mm (13.58x7.64") diag: 396mm (15.6") modes: 1366x768
  API: OpenGL v: 4.2 Mesa 23.0.3 renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics (BYT)
    direct-render: Yes

and a dual Core Sony, information unavailable, as it was a gift to a friend who lost most of her stuff in a Bush Fire.

It is also Intell GPU only, has 4 Gig of RAM and Dual Core CPU.

All are running current Stable release of Manjaro with KDE Plasma.

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as another follow up… Just toying around with Plasma 5.27.5 with FreeBSD 13.2 on an (even older) Inspiron1525. Works really well so far.